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7.4.12

chicken and mushroom pie

This recipe is not only incredibly delicious but it uses leftover roast chicken and gravy from the day before.

for the pastry:

200g plain flour

100g cold butter

70ml cold water

for the pie:

1/2 large roast chicken (for the recipe, see below)

leftover gravy (as much as you have, 150 ml would be nice)

3 carrots

1 onion

a bag of dried porcini mushrooms

white wine (splash)

150ml single cream

salt, pepper

Preparation:

Ok, I'm assuming you already have the leftovers, but if you want the recipe for roast chicken and gravy, see the end of the recipe.

To make the pastry, cut the cold butter into tiny cubes and add it to the flour. Using a blunt spreading knife, cut through the butter and the flour repeatedly. This is not hard but will take about 5-10 minutes. You want to make butter pieces as tiny as you can, and to distribute them evenly throughout the mixture.

Add cold water and keep cutting the dough until it looks like it's going to come together, and all the loose flour is incorporated.

Using your hand, bring the dough together into a ball, but don't overknead it. 30 seconds is all it takes. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 20 minutes in the fridge.

To make the filling, chop up the onions and the carrot into small cubes. Soak the porcini in boiling water for about 20 minutes beforehand.

Sautee the onions for a few minutes, then add the carrot. When it dries up, add a splash of wine and salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes.

Drain the mushrooms and chop coarsely. Add to the vegetables and heat through. Add the gravy followed by the cream and stir. Add large chunks of skinless cold chicken and mix to cover it in veg and cream mixture.

Pour the mixture into a pie dish. Roll out the pastry between two sheets of cling film. Make sure the pastry is larger circle than the dish.

Wet the edges of the pie dish with water and stick a little bit of leftover pastry all around. This is what the crust will stick to. Cover with the rolled out pastry and cut off along the edges to get rid of extra pastry. Using your fingers, "pinch" all around to seal.

Make decorations from the leftover pastry. Beat one egg and brush it on all over the pastry, then stick the decorations on top of it. Cut a small cross in the middle to allow steam to exit during cooking.

Bake in the oven at 180 C for about 35 - 40 minutes, until the crust is golden.

Serve with salad. Bon appetit!

ROAST CHICKEN AND GRAVY

Ingredients:

2 lemons

thyme

2 carrots

2 sticks celery

2 onions

2 cloves garlic

1 large chicken (2.1 kg or so)

salt, pepper, oil, flour

200ml white wine

1 l chicken stock (a cube will do)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 240 C.

Wash the vegetables and the lemons. Cut the veg (don't peel) into chunks and halve the onions and garlic and arrange on the bottom of the slightly oiled roasting pan. Add a bit of salt and pepper.

Pierce lemons all over with a knife and stuff them, together with thyme, inside the chicken.

Sprinkle the coarse sea salt and pepper over the slightly oiled chicken. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables.

Put the chicken in the oven and reduce the heat to 190 C. Roast for 20 minutes for every 450g plus 15 minutes (2.1 kg chicken will need roughly 110 minutes).

When the chicken is done, remove it from the tray and cover with aluminium foil loosely and leave it for at least 20 minutes.

To make the gravy, first remove 95% of the grease, using a spoon. Then, using a potato masher, mash all the roasted veg in the tray. Sprinkle the flour all over (a few pinches), add the wine and heat the tray on the stove, stirring gently. When the alcohol evaporates (a couple of minutes) add a litre of boiling water with one stock cube dissolved in it. Let it simmer and stir, until the gravy thickens (eave it quite runny, you don't want it too thick). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sieve the mixture to get smooth, fragrant gravy to serve with chicken and vegetables.